'Fox News North' viewership falls dramatically after first week

Toronto
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The Canadian media outlet Sun News, otherwise dubbed as Fox News North, started off strong, but the broadcast numbers are showing a different tale after just one week. Figures are estimating that only a few thousand viewers are tuning into the network.

There is a bit of controversy this week after a Conservative staffer told Sun Media that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff had a role in the war in Iraq. It was later reported that Patrick Muttart, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former deputy chief of staff, was the source, according to the National Post. He now no longer works for the Conservative Party.

After the network’s first week, there is more bad news for the network that has been labelled as Fox News North since the media outlet was first proposed. The Canadian Press reports that the Sun News Network is drawing as little as 4,000 viewers in several timeslots.

On Apr. 18, the launching of the Quebecor venture, the outlet garnered approximately 37,000 viewers, while Ezra Levant’s “The Source” was the highest rated segment with 31,000 viewers. However, the numbers have significantly declined.

Levant’s show fell to 12,000 on Wednesday, but went back up to 19,000 on Monday, reports Oye! Times. The timeslot has received as little as 1,000 viewers in the ever important 25-to-54 age group.

Meanwhile, other shows that featured Charles Adler, a radio personality from Winnipeg, and Brian Lilley, a journalist out of Ottawa, have also dropped by large numbers. On its opening week, Adler gained 31,000 viewers and Lilley had 17,000. But now they are only able to garner 4,000 and 5,000 viewers.

CBC News, its key competition, has averaged an audience of 263,000 viewers across the country. Even CNN has been averaging a Canadian audience at the coveted 7 p.m. timeslot of 38,000 viewers.

A staffer at QMI Agency, the company that owns Sun Media, did not immediately respond to an e-mail from Digital Journal.

Sun News Network is gaining interest from Rabble.ca, a left-wing media organization. The website, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary, is keeping a close eye on the network, reports Epoch Times.

“We don’t want people to be blinded by Sun TV,” said Rabble publisher Kim Elliott. “Our new media watch blog will feature a media consumer Twitter feed #sunwatch and the keen eye of Alheli Picazo.”